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Speaker |
Laura A Dixon |
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Industry |
Nursing |
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Speciality |
Nursing |
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Available |
All Days |
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Duration |
120 Minutes |
Description
This webinar series consists of 3 parts:-
Every hospital that has an emergency department and accepts Medicare and Medicaid patients must follow the federal law and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Conditions of Participation Interpretive Guidelines on the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA). Hospitals without emergency departments must comply with EMTALA if they have specialized capabilities. EMTALA can also impact obstetrical patients and behavioral health patients.
EMTALA remains a hot topic with CMS and OIG and should now be on the radar screen for every hospital. There have been a recent increased number of deficiencies and increased CMS and OIG activity. As such, it is important for hospitals to be prepared should a CMS surveyor walk into your hospital today to investigate an EMTALA complaint.
The EMTALA manual was updated in July of 2019. Although the OIG regulations are not contained in the CMS EMTALA CoP manual, they are important for all hospitals to be aware of those regulations.
The EMTALA penalties have more than doubled over the last several years, along with a cost-of-living adjustment, so it is almost $105,000 per violation for hospitals with over 100 beds. A recent article found that 30% of US hospitals and 34% of Critical Access Hospitals have violated EMTALA in the last decade. CMS also made a change in that some EMTALA investigations will occur 2 days after notification of a complaint. Additional topics addressed by CMS in relation to the emergency department include the Born-Alive Infant Protection Act with an updated survey memo on the issue.
Hospitals are required to report a potential EMTALA violation and can be cited for failure to do so. CMS issued a recent deficiency memo showing that over 5,350 hospitals received deficiencies for failure to comply with the federal EMTALA law. Common deficiencies of emergency departments, including EMTALA citations, will be discussed during this program.
This program will also discuss a recent case against a hospital that was the largest EMTALA settlement of 1.2 million dollars. It is anticipated that healthcare will see larger EMTALA fines and more activity because of the higher fines and the OIG final changes. These changes are not in the CMS CoPs and will be discussed.
This 3-part webinar will include the regulations and interpretive guidelines. It will include all 12 sections and an expanded section for on-call physicians and the shared and community care plan process.
Hospitals will need to ensure their policies, procedures, and training is adequate to ensure compliance with EMTALA. The hospital must know how to do a medical screening exam, how to stabilize a patient, and what constitutes an emergency medical condition. Transfers must be compliant with these requirements.
This webinar series will include a discussion of a case that has created an enormous expansion of hospital and practitioner liability under federal law. The case, Moses v. Providence Hospital and Medical Centers, Inc., No. 07-2111 (6th Cir. April 2009), overruled the CMS regulation that EMTALA obligations end when the hospital admits the patient in good faith. Those states in the 6th Circuit (Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Michigan) must now follow this case as precedent. Sometimes the result may be different if the patient files a lawsuit as opposed to filing a complaint with CMS. This case illustrates the importance of understanding the role that case law has on the outcome of EMTALA litigation. Patients can complain to CMS and request an investigation, or they have the option of going and directly filing a lawsuit.
Learning Objectives
Agenda
This program will cover the following (Part 1 of 3)
This program will cover the following (Part 2 of 3)
This program will cover the following (Part 3 of 3)
Who Should Attend
(BS, JD, RN, CPHRM)
Laura Dixon | Laura A. Dixon recently served as the Regional Director of Risk Management and Patient Safety for Kaiser Permanente Colorado where she provided consultation and resources to clinical staff. Prior to joining Kaiser, she served as the Director, of Facility Patient Safety and Risk Management and Operations for COPIC from 2014 to 2020. In her role, Ms. Dixon provided patient safety and risk management consultation and training to facilities, practitioners, and staff in multiple states. Such services included the creation of presentations on risk management topics, assessment of healthcare facilities; and development of programs and compilation of reference materials that complement physician-oriented products.
Prior to joining COPIC, she served as the Director, of the Western Region, Patient Safety and Risk Management for The Doctors Company, Napa, California. In this capacity, she provided patient safety and risk management consultation to the physicians and staff in the western United States. Ms. Dixon’s legal experience includes medical malpractice insurance defense and representation of nurses before the Colorado Board of Nursing.
Ms. Laura Dixon has more than twenty years of clinical experience in acute care facilities, including critical care, coronary care, peri-operative services, and pain management.
As a registered nurse and attorney, Laura holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Regis University, RECEP of Denver, a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from Drake University College of Law, Des Moines, Iowa, and a Registered Nurse Diploma from Saint Luke’s School Professional Nursing, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She is licensed to practice law in Colorado and California.